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Toronto hit the midway point of their three-game road trip here on Tuesday night and, thanks to a win in Anaheim on Monday, they have a chance to do what few from the East have done: escape with a winning record.

The Leafs view this trip as a test of their mettle for the playoff run.

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“Definitely. they are some of the top teams in the league,” said Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk. “These games are a crucial part of the schedule for us.”

The Leafs passed the first test with Monday’s victory. But for the other teams that have made the trip here, the results have been largely disastrous. Just look at the records of these Eastern teams on their road trips to California:

Montreal: 1-2-0

Tampa: 0-2-1

Columbus: 0-2-1

Detroit: 1-2-0

N.Y Rangers: 1-2-0

Philadelphia: 2-1-0

New Jersey: 1-1-1

Ottawa: 0-2-1

The Washington Capitals have yet to come West, so the Leafs’ main competitors for a playoff spot have accumulated six wins in 24 games in California (6-14-4).

Death Valley, indeed.

“They’ve got good teams, it is a simple as that,” said Leafs coach Randy Carlyle. “They are all built in the same way: Big, strong, skating hockey clubs. When you play out here, there are no easy ones. There are no nights off.”

There are theories as to why points are hard to come by in California.

One: California offers up a number of distractions that aren’t available in many other places, like sunshine and the beach.

“Maybe too much sun for all you guys up north,” said Sharks winger Adam Burish. “You Canadians come here, and you get sunburnt by the time the game starts and you can’t play.

“But this building is one of the toughest buildings to play in in the league. That’s part of it, too. And it’s personnel, it’s a deep team. These teams in California are all pretty deep.”

Two: Eastern teams can’t adapt to the Western style of hockey.

“We play different, there is a difference between the conferences,” said Sharks winger Logan Couture. “You can see it on the ice. It’s the size of the players. In the Pacific (Division), they’re all big guys up front and a lot to handle. The East has more speed.

“It’s tough for teams to play these three in a row. Tough rinks to play in.”

A third theory says teams play three games in four nights and just get tired. The time change doesn’t help, either.

“I don’t know if the time change for the team’s economies is a big deal, if it works against them or what,” said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau. “This year especially it’s been tough sledding for teams that do that, especially the second game which is usually a back-to-back.”

Sharks coach Todd McLellan, however, wasn’t buying that.

“It evens out in the long run,” said McLellan. “We’ll get a team first, then L.A. will get a team first. There is no big benefit one way or another, you can’t read into that very much.”

A fourth theory is that the California teams — through their intense intrastate rivalry — make each other better. There are, after all, two recent Stanley Cup champions in the mix (Anaheim, 2007 and L.A. in 2012.)

“We play each other an awful lot,” said Boudreau. “It’s just like Toronto-Montreal, or Toronto-Ottawa. The rivalries are pretty big and pretty heated.”

And by playing each other so much, they push each other to be better.

“It certainly is hard (for teams) coming to California,” said Ducks defenceman Cam Fowler. “Even for us playing against San Jose and L.A. you know you’re in for a fight. It’s just the style of play that makes it difficult.

“There’s obviously a rivalry between us and those two teams. You know you have to be at your best to beat them. It makes it very competitive.”

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